ASEAN countries seek drug deterrent

ASEAN countries seek drug deterrent

HANOI (AFP): The nine countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began on Thursday a conference in
Hanoi on ways to protect young people from the increasing threat
of drugs.

Opening the two-day meeting, Vietnamese Police Minister Le
Minh Huong said Hanoi was "deeply concerned to see that drugs
continue to be more and more serious, particularly among young
people."

The grouping, which includes the three Golden Triangle
countries of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, set itself the ambitious
target in July in Manila of eradicating drugs from the region by
2020.

Drugs are easy to find and relatively cheap. They are no
longer confined to marginalized groups, and socially integrated
young people such as students had started experimenting, said
Christian Kornevall, representative of the UN Drugs Control
Program.